Magnetic excitations in bulk multiferroic two-dimensional triangular lattice antiferromagnet (Lu,Sc)FeO${}_3$

Abstract

Non-collinear two-dimensional triangular lattice antiferromagnets (2D TLAF) are currently an area of very active research due to their unique magnetic properties, which lead to non-trivial quantum effects that experimentally manifest themselves in the spin excitation spectra. Recent examples of such insulating 2D TLAF include (Y,Lu)MnO${}_3$, LiCrO${}_2$, and CuCrO${}_2$. Hexagonal LuFeO3 is a recently synthesized 2D TLAF which exhibits properties of an ideal multiferroic material, partially because of the high spin ($S=5/2$) and strong magnetic super-exchange interactions. We report the full range of spin dynamics in a bulk single crystal of (Lu${}_{0.6}$Sc${}_{0.4}$)FeO${}_3$ (Sc doping to stabilize the hexagonal structure) measured via time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering. Modeling with linear spin wave theory yields a nearest neighbor exchange coupling of $J$ = 4.0(2) meV (DFT calculations for $h$-LuFeO${}_3$ predicted a value of 6.31 meV) and anisotropy values of $K_D$ = 0.17(1) meV (easy plane) and $K_A$~=~-0.05(1)~meV (local easy axis). It is observed that the magnon bandwidth of the spin wave spectra is twice as large for $h$-(Lu,Sc)FeO${}_3$ as it is for $h$-LuMnO${}_3$.

7 pages, 4 figures